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Eminent Technology LFT-8b in Harry's system

I recently signed up for the V.P.I. Industries newsletter, and today received my first such. In it, Harry Weisfeld reviews a Grado phono cartridge, but this post concerns one of the speakers he listed as being those he uses to listen to music and evaluate recordings through. All but one are traditional dynamic cones/domes in a box designs, only one being a planar/dipole. That planar is the Eminent Technology LFT-8b. I'm pretty sure Harry could, if he so chose, have instead as his sole planar a pair of $6000 Magneplanar MG 3.7i's, or even $14,000 20.7's. But nope, he instead chose the $2500 ET LFT-8b, imo the greatest value in a loudspeaker on the market. I compared it to the 1.7i, and the difference was dramatic.
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flynnrd
41 posts
 
Brucefredrick. I also have the Straigtbwire Maestros. Excellent to hear that there’s synergy there! 
nkj
130 posts
 
The  LFT8b cost far too little for what it can do. Thigpen is brilliant and it is a shame that these speakers do not get more attention.

@lewm  I use a pair of Beveridge Model 3 speakers with RM s DD amps by passing the internal step up and crossover network. I use the amp with a shallow 1st order crossover on the input at about 70-80hz with the rest going to a pair of RELs . Very nice- if only Beveridge had access to modern subs back then. The amps BTW have a tube input and driver. I run silicone test prod wires from the amp to the stators.


Have fun with the ET ... it is a great product.


bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,821 posts
 

The low price of the LFT-8b works against it in the mind of audiophiles who equate price with quality and performance. But it’s more than just that; far more people own Magnepan MG1.7’s than LFT-8b’s (approximately the same price after Mye and Sound Anchor stands, respectively, are bought for each), many of them not even knowing of Eminent Technology. That’s a result of ET having far fewer dealers than Magnepan, and getting far fewer reviews. I believe many 1.7 owners, had they heard the Magnepans and ET’s side-by-side, would have instead purchased the ET’s. But ET exists like a cult-level band, known only by the hippest music lovers. Flying under the radar, so to speak.

The same is true of Music Reference (the RM nkj refers to directly above is Roger Modjeski, designer/builder/owner of Music Reference products. Roger designed the direct-drive tube amps for the Beveridge ESL’s, and now makes his own direct-drive tube amp/ESL loudspeaker with sub system, available for $12,000/pr). Roger is very much like Eminent Technology’s Bruce Thigpen, designing and making products offering ridiculous value, yet owned by far fewer audiophiles than those of more "trendy" companies, ownership of which carries with it more audiophile cache’ and bragging rights.

How many have compared an RM-9 or RM-200 against an ARC, Conrad-Johnson, Quicksilver, Jadis, VTL, Manley, Shindo, Cary, Lamm, Ypsilon, McIntosh, Allnic, etc. amp? Aside from Brooks Berdan, only Michael Fremer, as far as I know. Brooks had sold ARC when he was at GNP Audio, and chose VTL, Jadis, McIntosh, and, yes, Music Reference as his tube brands (along with a few others) when he opened his own shop. It was he who turned me on to both Eminent Technology and Music Reference, two of his favorite companies and product lines. Wise man.

bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,821 posts
 
Oops, left out Atma-Sphere! By the way, Modjeski is now making OTL amps himself, including those in his direct-drive ESL loudspeaker. No output transformer in the amp, no input transformer in the speaker!
clio09
3,355 posts
 
A couple small corrections here. The Music Reference ESL Speaker System is $12,000 including a pair of ESL panels, a pair of bass speakers, and a bass amp that includes an active crossover (4th order Linkwitz-Riley, 100 Hz high pass and low pass). The direct drive amps are extra starting at $6,500. The speaker system and amps are custom built to order.

Yes, there aren’t any output transformers in the direct drive amps so technically it is an OTL. However, they put out 5000V. Not sure how many OTLs do that, so the speaker better be up for it.

I run the original Acoustat servos with Acoustat Model 2s with panels modified by Roger Modjeski (I also have Quad ESL with Atma-Sphere M-60s, but converting the Quad to be powered by direct drive). I augment them with a bass array of 4 woofers in a biamp set up. For Roger, the 100 Hz cutoff point is important (his ESLs cut off here), as he wants to avoid male vocals creeping in to the low end, which he has demonstrated to me on select recordings he has. That’s the main reason the LFTs and their 180 Hz cutoff aren’t in my system.
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